School Children



The Association For Formidable Education Development (AFED) on Saturday called on government at all levels to consider low cost private education into their education policy.

AFED Secretary, Mr Kalu Orji, made this call at the funeral of the association’s former national president, Mr Joseph Ejenavi in Ijanikin, Lagos.

Orji said that low cost private education would provide the less privileged affordable private education where public schools are unavailable.

``There are so many children, especially in the rural areas, who do not have access to quality education but with the assistance of government through AFED it could be achieved,’’ he said.

He said the association had urged the government to provide education bank so that loan can be given at a low interest rate.

Orji said that the loan would assist in providing education to those in the rural and riverside areas.

AFED national President, Mrs Ifejola Dada, urged the new Commissioner for Education in Lagos State to pay more attention to low cost schools.

Dada said that the call was necessary due to the struggle of the association in ensuring quality education to all especially, the down trodden.

``Government should complement our efforts in seeing to it that indigent children are educated by at least training our teachers,’’ she said.

She recalled that late Ejenavi was the AFED president when Sarah Sosan, former Deputy Governor in Lagos State and overseeing education clamoured for the closure of some schools under the association.

Dada, however, added that the issue was amicably resolved, adding that AFED schools were accepted by the government.

Mr Enoro Ejenavi, a son of late Ejenavi, urged government to open channels for street urchins and the less privilege to access free education or low cost education.

Enoro, an electrical engineer, said this would ensure that AFED effort and his father’s need for education, especially for the orphans and street urchins was not in vain.

According to him, his late father was an orphan, who struggled to be educated, and as a result granted scholarship to orphans and down trodden in his school.

AFED are low cost schools with fees ranging from N3, 000 to N25, 000 annually and whose objective is education for the down trodden.